Charges dropped in 2002 central Pa. slaying

YORK, Pa.—A central Pennsylvania prosecutor has withdrawn charges filed two years ago against a man in what authorities called a drug-related slaying ten years earlier.

Officials in York County said Wednesday that John Ruth III, 58, was released Friday from the county prison, where he had been since his February 2012 arrest. The arrest came nearly a decade after Stacey Farmer, 33, was found dead in front of his Windsor Township home in June 2002.

District Attorney Tom Kearney said prosecutors need to do more work on the case, which was scheduled for trial next month. He said the charges can be refiled later.

"We still believe we have the right guy," Kearney said. "This case is not going away."

Officer Peter Montgomery of York Area Regional Police said in 2012 that police believed Ruth shot Farmer to silence him regarding "their relationship and their activities."

Farmer died a few days after he was released on bail on charges of helping another man cover up the May 2002 murder of 29-year-old Hopethan Johnson of Red Lion. Police said they believed he was killed on Farmer's property, although his remains were found years later in a remote area near the Susquehanna River.

Duane Frey was convicted of first-degree murder in Johnson's death in 2003 and was sentenced to life in prison. Authorities said Frey told investigators that he blamed Johnson for his drug addiction and for wiping out his life savings, but refused to tell them what became of the victim's body other than saying "it's probably crab bait right now.

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